IPNEWS: Beneficiaries of the Community Based Forest Management Project (CBFM) supported by UNDP with funding from Sweden in Kailahun and Lukasu in Lofa county, say the project has greatly impacted their communities, and are calling for replication in other areas.
Sam Jomah, an eco-guard, is among those who have benefited from the CBFM project. For Sam, he sees the project as critical to transforming his life, making use of every opportunity he has. “I had no prior knowledge of the importance of safeguarding our forest especially, preserving wildlife. However, with the training provided by the CBFM after my recruitment as an eco-guard, I know how to use a surveillance camera in the forest.
The training covered modules on identifying high-conservation wildlife species and illegal human activities within the protected area. It also included GPS operation skills, usage of camera traps, and a compass, all geared toward making bio-monitoring effective. The camera traps are deployed in the forest to monitor the different species of the landscape.
Today, Sam is an Eco-guard, trained, skilled, and equipped to patrol and monitor the forest for illegal activities such as poaching. He is paid a stipend that enables him to provide for his family, and even save to start a business, possibly a green business.
Sam symbolically displayed the surveillance camera to UNDP’s Resident Representative Aliou Dia and the Assistant Local Government Minister Orando Armah, when they toured project sites.
“We want to say a big thank you to the UNDP and the government of Liberia for this project. The camera is intended to keep surveillance in protected areas in the forest. This project has empowered us to send our children to school. I can proudly say to you that through this project, two of my children are now high school graduates. For this I am grateful,” he added.
Sam is 42 years old and has six children. He is among 80 community members recruited and trained as Eco Guards by the project in the Northwest of the country covering Lofa, Grand Cape Mount, and Gbarpolu Counties.
These eco-guards are equipped with tools, logistics, and accessories including motorbikes, tablets, tents, and other assorted items to aid them in conducting research and monitoring the forest for illegal activities.
In protected areas in Lofa, the Eco-guards work closely with forest rangers of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) supported by UNDP/CBFM for forest conservation and sustainable forest management. The FDA has established community-based forest patrol teams that help reduce illegal activities such as logging, poaching, and land encroachment in protected areas and forest fringe communities. This has come a year after the CBFM project provided new motorbikes, GPS, camp beds, rain gear, tablets, cameras, back-backs, remote sensing technologies, and carbon monitoring tools the FDA uses to monitor more than 30 cluster forest communities.
The aim is to boost the operational capacity of forest rangers and officers at the county, district, and community levels in promoting biodiversity monitoring, forest maintenance, and wildlife conservation using the SMART data collection method. This intervention has also seen over 400km of forest areas under improved management through regular surveillance with the recruitment and deployment of eighty (80) eco-guards (34 women and 46 men) conducting monitoring patrols led by FDA rangers in the Gola National Park and Foya Proposed Protected Area.
The Chief Park Warden of the Foya Proposed Protected Area Bility M. Geningan, commended the government, UNDP, and its partners, but appealed for increased logistical support to boost its manpower efficiency in the forest.
“We have over a hundred (120) rangers across Liberia, of that number, Foya Proposed Protected Area has four. This community has a huge potential for young people willing to work. We need logistics and training for more young people to join us as rangers to battle illegal activities ongoing in our forest,” Geningan added.
Moreover, the CBFM project has supported farmers grow cocoa, plantain, and pigeon peas on degraded land. Currently, the farmers in Kailahun, are into lowland rice farming but are expected to start cocoa farming later this year.
Helena Kanneh, a beneficiary of the lowland rice farming project, leads the women in this initiative. She explained the impact of the project on her personal life and that of the community.
“I didn’t know that this program was so impactful. Imagine I struggled hard to get food for my kids but since UNDP trained us to manage our farm, I can safely say that things are better,” Helena said.
Despite these interventions by UNDP under the CBFM project, challenges remain unavoidable. Monyan Samukai, one of the eco-guards in Kailahun highlighted key challenges, including the need for improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, better storage infrastructure, access to cash transfer programs, especially for women, enhanced irrigation systems, and increased investment in lowland rice farming.
In Salayea, the CBFM project has strengthened forest governance structures to promote forest conservation. “Currently, there is an ongoing demarcation of over 8,000 hectares of land in Salayea as we make strides to jumpstart livelihood activities under the project,” says Ben G. Gorlenma, Salayea District Commissioner.
The Community-Based Forestry and Protected Area Management project is a joint project of UNDP and FAO, funded by Sweden and implemented in partnership with the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).
